Episode 1468: The Scott Boras Guessing Game
Date December 10, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley link up during the Winter Meetings for a brief bonus episode in which Meg tries to stump Ben about genuine and fake media-scrum statements supposedly made by baseball superagent Scott Boras. Topics * Scott Boras quote guessing game * Scott Boras' analogy that MLB teams are like birds * Scott Boras' comments on Gerrit Cole * Review of Scott Boras' winter meetings press conference * Meg's experience at the winter meetings Intro Yo La Tengo, "If it's True" Outro Jethro Tull, "Sparrow on the Schoolyard Wall" Banter * Ben has been in a self-imposed social media and email blackout since he found out that Boras would be having his press conference today. The Scott Boras Quotes Game Some of these quotes are real things that Scott Boras said at the Winter Meetings, and some were made up by Meg. Round 1: Real or fake? "Look, if you're setting out on a long journey you might start with a destination in mind but after a while you have to adapt. Tough waters, sand bars, a bad mooring. Sometimes there are sharks, and sometimes better beaches. The best port isn't always where you first thought." * Ben's guess: Fake. * Answer: Fake. Round 2: Real or fake? "MLB teams are like birds. There are some hummingbirds that buzz around. Sparrows get something they can't carry the weight of. A lot of owls who are wise and work at night. A lot of hawks. And you don't want to be an ostrich and lay the biggest egg." * Ben's guess: Real. "I want to believe." * Answer: Real. The quote continues, "The Mets are birds of a different feather." The backstory behind this quote is revealed in Episode 1472. Round 3: Which quote about Gerrit Cole is real and which is fake? (1) "If this were a thermometer, it would be room temperature heading toward a hot climate." (2) "Gerrit's stove is heating and I expect a nice char on this one when it's over. Not too well done. It'll be just right for him." * Ben's guess: 1 is fake and 2 is real. * Answer: 1 is real and 2 is a "Meg Rowley special." Round 4: Real or fake? "Free agents, they're the seeds that grow into wins, into rings. I think a lot of teams looked around this year and wanted a better harvest. Enough of both to get them through the next winter and who knows, maybe you need apples and onions." * Ben's guess: Real. * Answer: Fake. "I made that one up too!" Notes * Meg and Ben successfully host a Scott Boras quote guessing game, where Ben has to guess which quotes are real quotes from Boras' press conference and which ones are fake quotes Meg wrote. * Meg spent a bit of time trying to come up with the two perfect crops for her fake quote in round 4. * Boras said that Gerrit Cole has had multiple meetings with teams, each which lasted "at least six hours." Ben and Meg can't imagine what they could have talked about for six hours. Meg jokes, "You can go on really good first dates, and after six hours, you're like 'This is a really good first date, but I need to go home.'" * Sam played along at home and reported his results in Episode 1469. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1468: The Scott Boras Guessing Game * Scott Boras media scrum Category:Episodes